“My whole existence, and the reason that I’m in country music, was based on me being in an agricultural family,” Bryan revealed to Billboard while discussing his annual Farm Tour. “It taught me everything I know about life, and my work ethic. It has shaped who I am. I took all those values, and I brought them to Nashville, and used that hard work to get my career off the ground. I still go back home and talk to my dad, and talk about how the business is going. It’s still very present, and very important in my life.”

The singer went on to discuss how working on a farm gave him a daily sense of accomplishment often missing from the world of music.

“I always loved the aspect of farming that at the end of the day, you could see what you had done that day,” Bryan explained. “If you were working in a field, you started at one end of the field, and by the end of the day, you completed the job. The funny thing about the music business is that you could work for a year, and never know if you were going forward or backwards. It’s about putting in a good day’s work, and planting stuff, and watching it grow is pretty spiritual.”

Luke Bryan’s new album, What Makes You Country, is due to debut on Dec. 8.